By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
The 20 tables lining the sidewalk outside of La Fontana Coast are adorned with white linen tablecloths, a tempting invitation for customers to sit down to have lunch or dinner at the upscale Italian restaurant in Sea Isle City.
Bujar Daku, owner of La Fontana, noted that the tables have been carefully spaced apart to ensure that each one is at least six feet from the others to meet social distancing guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic.
“They are six feet apart, chair to chair, table to table,” he said.
This is how Daku is getting ready for La Fontana’s reopening on Monday, when restaurants across New Jersey will be allowed to begin offering outdoor dining.
It is a big step for an industry that has been limited in recent weeks, by Gov. Phil Murphy’s coronavirus restrictions, to takeout orders, curbside pickup and deliveries.
The governor has not yet announced when he will begin allowing indoor dining. So for now, Sea Isle’s restaurants are concentrating on setting up outdoor dining areas where customers may savor their meals al fresco while also enjoying the warm summer days and nights at the shore.
“We’re just trying to survive this year so that we can open the doors next year,” Daku said of the challenges restaurateurs will face in coming months during an uncertain summer tourism season.
La Fontana is located at the corner of 50th Street and Landis Avenue. Across the street, Daku also owns Fratelli’s Wood Fired Pizzeria, which has 10 to 15 tables set up out front for outdoor dining overlooking Landis Avenue.
Across town on Park Road, Mike Monichetti is getting his Mike’s Seafood & Dock Restaurant ready for outdoor dining. A local institution for more than 100 years, the family-owned Mike’s Seafood is one of the anchors of Sea Isle’s historic Fish Alley neighborhood.
Monichetti plans to place a dozen tables outside on the side of the restaurant in an area formerly used as a parking lot. He will also have six tables out front along the sidewalk. Mike’s Seafood also has its traditional outdoor seating on the dock overlooking the bay.
“I’m spreading everything out on the dock to meet CDC regulations and to provide the utmost safety, as always, at Mike’s,” Monichetti said.
Monichetti stressed that social distancing will be in place at his restaurant. One sign prominently placed outside Mike’s Seafood reminds customers to help “stop the spread” of the coronavirus.
“Keep 6 feet between you and anyone you see!” the sign says.
In the meantime, Monichetti is making final preparations for the public debut of outdoor dining at his restaurant.
“We’re going to wait until we’re fully comfortable in making it the best possible experience for our thousands and thousands of loyal and faithful customers,” Monichetti said. “I want to make it completely comfortable.”
Daku, meanwhile, has his sights set on Monday. He pointed out that some of his outdoor tables are tucked underneath La Fontana’s expansive awning to keep his customers dry when it rains.
“For Monday, we are ready,” he said. “We even have some reservations so far.”
In Sea Isle, outdoor dining is nothing new. The city introduced outdoor dining in 2008 as a way to enliven the local culinary scene for the throngs of tourists who visit the beach resort every summer.
Café-style tables line the sidewalks in front of both upscale and casual restaurants throughout town, allowing customers to enjoy dinner and drinks in a relaxing, open-air setting.
Mayor Leonard Desiderio said in a statement that his administration is developing plans “to offer broad latitude to these businesses to take advantage of outdoor spaces in order to most safely provide their goods and services.”
O’Donnell’s Pour House, the Irish-themed restaurant and tavern on Landis Avenue, is making a major push for outdoor dining. O’Donnell’s owners, brothers Ralph and Pat Pasceri, and their business partner, Michael Roberts, acquired an old house next door at 39th Street and demolished it to make room for more than 150 seats of outdoor dining space.
The project will be the topic of a special Sea Isle planning board meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The meeting will be held remotely, but the public may listen in and make comments by teleconference. Instructions for participating in the meeting can be found on the city’s municipal website at http://www.sea-isle-city.nj.us/.
The Ocean Drive bar and nightclub, O’Donnell’s sister property on Landis Avenue, will also offer outdoor dining this summer at its Sandbar & Grill.
“We’re excited,” Ralph Pasceri said of the prospects for outdoor dining in Sea Isle.
